Tigers face Arkansas Thursday in first-round WNIT game

University of Memphis women’s basketball coach Melissa McFerrin wasn’t shocked when the news came Monday night that her Tigers were given an at-large bid to participate in the Women’s NIT.

That’s why she had her team go through two short practices over the weekend after their abrupt first-round loss to Southern Miss in the Conference USA tournament.

“I looked at the numbers several times and I thought we were in,” McFerrin said. “But I didn’t want to say that and disappoint our players and our program. At the end of the day, when you’re the seventh best conference in the country, you get some favors from the selection committee. I’m not shocked, I’m pleased.”

Her players, on the other hand, had become resigned to the fact that their season had come to an end. Now they must get ready for their WNIT opener at 7 tonight at Arkansas.

The Tigers (17-14), one of five C-USA teams to make the WNIT field, will be making their fourth consecutive postseason appearance, including a third straight trip to the WNIT. They lost to Alabama in the first round in 2011, and last year fell in the second round to Missouri State.

This year they’ll face an Arkansas squad that finished 19-12. The Hogs are led by senior forward Sarah Watkins, who played at Houston High School. Watkins averaged 13 points a game.

“She’s very much a player that knows how to put the ball in the basket, particularly from the perimeter,” McFerrin said.

“She also can post when she needs to. She’ll be a player that we’ve got to give significant attention to.”

During those weekend practices, McFerrin could tell several of her players were still stinging from the Southern Miss game in which they let a 10-point second half lead slip away, resulting in a 67-58 defeat.

Abdul-Qaadir admitted to being one of those players.

“I’ve kind of lost some motivation because I really thought we were going to go far in the conference tournament,” she said. “It’s still kind of on my heart, the disappointment. But we’ve got another chance to play some more games and hopefully, we can make it long-lasting.”

The key for McFerrin is to get all of her players in the right frame of mind.

“The people that are on board, I’m going to coach really hard,” McFerrin said. “For those that may not be right now, they need to figure out how to be (by game-time) because this is too important for us.”

The winner will face the winner between Tulane and Sam Houston State at an undetermined date and time.